By Kareen Madian
The New Toronto Filmmakers (NTF), four guys fresh out of Sheridan Film School, presented their creativity, humour and talents at Ryerson Sunday night.
The screening took place in one of Ryerson’s mini-theatres, and showcased three independent films. All proceeds from ticket sales were donated to The Hospital for Sick Children.
Scott Bucsis directed Jackie Cabbage, a film about a lonely ex-vaudeville performer named Jackie whose only friend is a strange, creepy motel owner named Vance.
Bucsis says that the inspiration for Jackie Cabbage came when he and his friends were driving up north to go camping and they saw a billboard for an old motel called Vance’s Motel.
Through humour and sympathy anyone watching this film can understand and empathize with each character; and it is plain to see how much the two characters mean to one another.
The second film, A Message for Campbell Smith, ran 20 minutes and was directed by Aaron Lam. Lam graduated from radio and television arts at Ryerson before studying film at Sheridan. A Message for Campbell Smith is about “redemption, loss and fantasy,” says Lam.
Lam’s film forces viewers to look beyond what is being presented on the screen. He wants people to look inside themselves and take from his movie what they feel most valuable. Lam says that making his movie was “the best sort of counseling.”
“By using the arts you get the chance to get in touch with yourself,” says Lam.
The final film, directed by Ian McDowell and Jeremy Major was The Long Shot. The film is about five friends who just graduated from film school and are working towards their dreams as future filmmakers.
McDowell and Major stressed that as filmmakers their “single most important challenging goal was to avoid the Hollywood style of spoon feeding easy resolutions to the audience.”
With up-and-coming talents like The New Toronto Filmmakers it is easy to see why Toronto has been named Hollywood North. What’s next for these young filmmakers? They all have lots of freelance work and story ideas to keep them busy.
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